MANILA, Philippines — According to traffic navigation software Waze, Manila remains the world’s worst city for drivers.

On average, traveling a kilometer by car in the Philippine capital it will take nearly five minutes for a motorist.

At an average of 4.88 minutes per kilometer, Waze said it was the worst in terms of traffic worldwide.

This is worse than Bogota, were traveling one kilometer takes four minutes and Jakarta, Indonesia, were driving the same distance takes 3.83 minutes.

They were followed by Sao Paulo, Brazil at 2.43 minutes and Tel Aviv, Israel at 2.38 minutes.

Waze Philippines country manager Sarah Rodriguez said, “Based on the city versus city comparison numbers, Manila is still the worst city for traffic in the world”

Data from Waze shows that the figures from September in Manila were lower than those from previous months.

For example, in June, the Philippine capital’s average travel time was 4.97 minutes per kilometer. It dropped slightly in the following months, in July to 4.92 minutes and in August to 4.91 minutes.

As the Christmas season approaches, traffic congestion in Metro Manila is expected to deteriorate.

“We see seasonality on the basis of the numbers of each month. June to August, apart from Christmas, are the worst traffic since people travel for summer holidays,” said Rodriguez.

Data showed that in the last few months of the year, Filipinos travel longer distances and spend more time on driving.

Waze said a majority of travelers spend time in supermarkets, banks, bars, and restaurants over the weeks leading up to Christmas.

The number of people going to gyms, on the other hand, decreases during the Christmas season.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) agreed with the Waze report.

Celine Pialago, the MMDA spokesperson, said traffic in the metropolis is continuing to deteriorate due to the large volume of cars.

“We cannot deny the report. Paulit-ulit namin sinasabing congested na tayo,” Pialago said.

She cited the persistent traffic jams along EDSA where an average of 410,000 vehicles travel every day, is way beyond its 245,000-car capacity. (Marian Andrei Sinamban/IAMIGO/CNS)